Language information by source

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

95,000

Native speakers worldwide

Ethnic population

950,000

CHILDREN

0

YOUNG ADULTS

0

DATE OF INFO

2011

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"The rate of comprehension and contact sharply declines in younger generations, with those in their 40s understanding only passively or minimally, and other [younger] generations having absolutely no understanding of the language other than a few key phrases and set expressions."

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"...strong language policies that were enacted in the late 19th century up until the mid-20th century outright discouraged and banned the use of the language, an ideology which permeated into the regional culture with the language not having been passed down by the older generations and not having been taught in schools."

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

The total of all the Okinawan speakers is somewhere around 100,000.

Most speakers are over the age of 50 and are bilingual in South-Central Okinawan and Japanese.

DATE OF INFO

2014

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"Younger Okinawan speakers are L1 Japanese speakers, and L2 South-Central Okinawan learners (most people under 40 who learn are involved in traditional Okinawan culture, like the theater, with a growing number of language activists). And basically no children learn it at home from their parents, though there have been efforts to establish a language nest."

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Japanese

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"'Language nest' is implemented at the community level, though the government has issued statements that it is certainly not opposed."

Scripts (Writing system)

hiragana; katakana; kanji

More on Orthography

"It was originally written in a mix of hiragana and kanji. Nowadays, there are multiple competing orthographies. Basically all of them are hiragana, though lots of people also use the other syllabary, katakana, and there's lots of disagreements over how to represent the sounds Okinawan has that Japanese does not."

Most speakers are over the age of 50 and are bilingual in South-Central Okinawan and Japanese.

all

Japanese

"'Language nest' is implemented at the community level, though the government has issued statements that it is certainly not opposed."

all

Severely Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

13

"Younger Okinawan speakers are L1 Japanese speakers, and L2 South-Central Okinawan learners (most people under 40 who learn are involved in traditional Okinawan culture, like the theater, with a growing number of language activists). And basically no children learn it at home from their parents, though there have been efforts to establish a language nest."

"...strong language policies that were enacted in the late 19th century up until the mid-20th century outright discouraged and banned the use of the language, an ideology which permeated into the regional culture with the language not having been passed down by the older generations and not having been taught in schools."

Severely Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

14

"The rate of comprehension and contact sharply declines in younger generations, with those in their 40s understanding only passively or minimally, and other [younger] generations having absolutely no understanding of the language other than a few key phrases and set expressions."